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Reddit mentions of Theory of Harmony: 100TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Sentiment score: 10
Reddit mentions: 14

We found 14 Reddit mentions of Theory of Harmony: 100TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION. Here are the top ones.

Theory of Harmony: 100TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
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Release dateOctober 2010
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Found 14 comments on Theory of Harmony: 100TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION:

u/17bmw · 16 pointsr/musictheory

Normally, I would try to (somewhat) annotate stuff I link/mention but I'm tired on all levels of my being so forgive me for making this reply less detailed than I'd like it to be. Keep in mind that I don't know sht and half the time, I'm talking out my ss.

Mostly I hope this, at least, helps you guide your search. Or the things I write here are so horribad that it prompts someone to viciously correct me, thus giving you the real info you need! :p

I might circle back after some time to add notes here and there. Maybe. Also, this first reply will be focused on quartal harmony but I should be able to muster up the spoons to write up a search guide for minimalism later.

First, there are some really neat proto examples of quartal/quintal harmony in Medieval music. The starting search term for this would be organum. There were/are more than a few kinds^A of organum but examples of parallel organum should be most interesting to you.

David Fenwick Wilson has a book on Early music called Music in the Middle Ages: Style and Structure. It's admittedly an older book but I mention it specifically because there's a lovely youtube video^B with examples from the related anthology. As always, I'm a sl*t for Norton's music history books^C so check those out as well, imo.

Outside of the realm of "classical" music, most of the quartal harmony you'll encounter will be in the form of quartal voicings^D for otherwise tertian chords. It's a favorite trick for more than a few jazz giants so naturally, there's an absolute glut^E of resources for this.

When we get to classical music though, we start to get some actual spicy stuff, like fully formed quartal harmonic systems and languages. Paul Hindemith was a BIG fan of quartal stuff. You can check out his own writings^F about his musical system in his book on composition. Arnold Schoenberg also devotes a section in his book on harmony^G to the newer quartal sounds cropping up (well "new" when he wrote it at any rate).

From there it's really a matter of doing the grunt work of either analyzing composers you find writing quartal harmony OR researching analyses of said composers. Sure, quartal harmony (and the related term "interval cycle") gets mentioned in more than a few books on 20th century harmony like Vincent Persichetti's^H or Richard Strauss's^I books; both might be good jumping off points on your journey.

Seemingly, every composer and their mother (Hindemith, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Copland, Cowell, Ives) experimented with quartal writing in the 20th century. So while definitive guides might be hard to track down, specific examples aren't. I'll include an analysis or two that you might find helpful in the list below. Be on the look out for any edits I might sneak in!

Beyond that, perhaps the most concrete way we could help you would be to analyze specific pieces/instances of quartal language you find and walk you through any questions you had about the piece. When I'm not tired, I'm usually down to dig into some cool music. Drop a score, ask something, and let's analyze something together! Still, I hope this helps. Have fun on your compositional journey and take care!

A.) https://sophia.smith.edu/~rsherr/earlypol.htm

B.) https://youtu.be/SgHzH5iDcGQ

C.) https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393929157

D.) https://leadingtone.tumblr.com/post/8203279125/quartal-voicings-in-jazz-here-refers-to-an

E1.) https://www.jazzguitar.be/blog/quartal-chords-harmony-voicings-for-guitar/

E2.) https://www.thejazzpianosite.com/jazz-piano-lessons/jazz-chord-voicings/quartal-voicings/

E3.) http://greglui.com/blog/quartal-voicings/

F.) https://www.amazon.com/Craft-Musical-Composition-Theoretical-Part/dp/0901938300

G.) https://www.amazon.com/Theory-Harmony-ANNIVERSARY-Arnold-Schoenberg/dp/0520266080

H.) https://www.amazon.com/Twentieth-Century-Harmony-Creative-Aspects-Practice/dp/0393095398

I.) https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Post-Tonal-Theory-Fourth-Joseph/dp/0393938832

J.) Berg's Lyric Suite has plenty of quintal yumminess. Check out Perle's analysis of its interval cycles: https://www.jstor.org/stable/741747?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

u/allemande · 6 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

For anything that involves advanced music theory, or more technical elements of music, your best bet (IMHO) is to stay clear from jazz/rock books or anything "popular" and read from traditional academic/classical composers. That is, if you're looking to understand music from a more historic point of view of how is was used, and how it worked for hundreds of years and how it still works today.

There are tons of good books out there, but off the top of my head I reccomend:

Regarding the art of counterpoint:


Preliminary exercises in Counterpoint - Schoenberg

Also, you could check out the traditional Fux's Study of Counterpoint, but I think Schoenberg's book is far more complete and incentive.

Regarding the art of Harmony:


For a long time I've always thought that books could educate you in any way, until I met my harmony teacher. After studying with her for a couple years I find it hard to believe how much information, technique, and art is missing from almost every book on the subject, some are exceptions, obviously, but my recommendation is that there is no better way of learning this but with personal intruction. Also, the teacher needs to be someone who has had a strong education in music from well-known masters of the past, as was my teacher.

Anyways, regarding harmony in the more poetical and theoretical sense I reccomend :

Rameau's Treatise on Harmony

and of course, Schoenberg's Theory of Harmony

For a more technical approach to harmony I haven't found any books I'm really fond of, but I do think that Paul Hindemith's book is a very good option.

For something in the middle I recommend this

Regarding form and structure in music:


Once again, I have never seen information and instruction similar to that which I received with my professors, however here are a few good picks...

Schoenberg's Fundamentals of musical composition

and 2 books that I found very useful were...
(these I didn't find on amazon.com)

from German composer Clemens Kuhn: "Formenlehre der Musik" (this is only in German)

and from Spanish composer Joaquin Zamacois: "Curso de Formas Musicales" (this is only in Spanish I believe)

Well, surely there are more books, but I think these are good options for you to start. However, always with a grain of salt

u/smokefillstheroom · 4 pointsr/piano

I do NOT want to discourage you - but I don't think there is a quick way to learn music thory. It takes time and practice and experience. But it is definitely possible! Just think of it as a language : the written dot on the staff corresponds to a pitch - just like an a corresponds to the sound a. It must become natural. So I guess my advice is to read a LOT of music. Every day, if possible, and of different styles (classical, modern etc.) If you want your pieces to really sound original, you have to know what others have written before you - and learn from their craft.
That being said, I think there is a good deal of great books about harmony that you can read to guide your development, I will list a few here :

  • Arnold Schoenberg : Theory of Harmony (A bit tedious to read, but with great many examples)
  • Arnold Schoenberg : Fundamentals of Musical Composition This one is great but a bit advanced; I suggest you read it when you master the harmony basics.
  • Carl Schroeder & Keith Wyatt : Harmony and Theory: A Comprehensive Source for All Musicians This one is recommended, but I didn't read it myself.
  • Barbara Wharram : Elementary Rudiments of Music. This one I grew up with. Very straightforward and clear.

    Might I suggest that you play all the examples and excercies at the piano so that you train your ear to hear what you see.

    Also, you might want to contact a piano teacher and take lessons for a year... or two. Technique is a great part of playing, and is very difficult to learn on his own.

    Sorry for the long post, but I love music and want to help a fellow player. Also, sorry for potentialy awkward sentences, english is not my first language.

    Hope this helps!
u/and_of_four · 3 pointsr/piano

Try checking out Arnold Schoenberg's Theory of Harmony. It's not about his 12 tone method, it's a book on tonal harmony.

u/nastierlistener · 3 pointsr/classicalmusic

Try Theory of Harmony by Schoenberg and The Study of Counterpoint by Fux. If you don't mind reading somewhat dated texts these could work well.

u/krypton86 · 3 pointsr/composer

It's not sonata form. That's an issue for a piano sonata unless you're Domenico Scarlatti.

Apart from that, the part writing goes sideways a few times. Have you studied four-part harmony? I believe it's essential regardless of your personal harmonic language. Look at Schoenberg, for example. He's famous for writing extremely dissonant music, but he was perhaps the most capable tonalist in the world while he was alive. His books on tonality and composition are works of genius, and I recommend you read them and internalize them (Theory of Harmony and Fundamentals of Musical Composition, in case you're curious).

You seem like you have the potential to write in a style similar to Andrew Violette, but to get there will require great discipline and study. Redouble your efforts and buckle down.

u/ILikeasianpeople · 2 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

Is orchestration, composition and harmony something you've studied quite a bit on? Like, have you grabbed a few books on the subject and dug in? The orchestra is a fickle mistress, especially when migrating from another, non-orchestra related, genre. If you haven't studied one or any of those things, it will make the learning process a living hell. Thankfully, the orchestra has been around for hundreds of years, so there is a massive amount of knowledge out there to pull from.

These lists are "start to finish" kind of lists. Do them in order and you should be alright. One will be a "quick start" list (not as much to read) and another will be a "long haul" list (way way more to read).



Quick start (a few months of study)

  1. Mark Levine's Jazz Piano Book

  2. Schoenbergs Fundamentals of Musical Composition

  3. Korsakov's Principles of Orchestration


    Long haul list (will probably take you a (few) year(s) to complete):

  4. Schoenbergs Theory of Harmony or Pistons Harmony plus workbook

  5. Schoenbergs Fundamentals of Musical Composition

  6. Mark Levins Jazz Piano Book

  7. Sam Adler's The Study of Orchestration vol. 4 plus Workbook


    I hope these resources can help a bit, if you decide to take the plunge. If not, there are tons of resources at openmusictheory.com that should be helpful.
u/cmattis · 1 pointr/futurebeatproducers

Well, my best advice (if possible) is just to pick up any book that has a combination of scales and basic chord progressions (like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Scales-Chords-Arpeggios-Cadences/dp/0739003682/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343850716&sr=8-1&keywords=piano+chords+scales) and spend a few months working everyday learning them on piano or a keyboard. When you're making a song if you know ahead of time what key you want to write it in and then limit yourself to the notes available in that scale you'll find that you feel a lot more in control. If that's not possible you could try to pick up a music theory textbook, but in general those tend to be geared almost exclusively towards people that are going to be composing with pencil and paper (AKA Sibelius) in the Western Classical tradition so a lot of the rules they impose early on (avoidance of parallel/hidden fifths and octaves, some of the rules dealing minor scales) won't really apply what so ever to the stuff you're trying to do, but if you're interested in doing modulations (fancy smancey word for key changes) or utilizing weird scales like the half diminished you're probably gonna want to pick up a music theory textbook eventually.

NOW if you wanna go really deep down the rabbit hole, I'd pick up this book: http://www.amazon.com/Theory-Harmony-100th-Anniversary-Edition/dp/0520266080/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1343851092&sr=8-3&keywords=schoenberg

It's partially a music theory textbook but it's more an investigation into why harmonic structures work the way they do. Schoenberg's theory relating bass notes to chords completely changed the way I make music.

Hopefully that wasn't too confusing.

u/jazzyjacck · 1 pointr/musictheory

Some Books that I have that are good are:

Twentieth Century Harmony by Vincent Persichetti

Theory of Harmony by Arnold Schoenberg

A Chromatic Approach to Jazz Harmony and Melody by David Liebman

u/raoulduke25 · 1 pointr/christianmetal

I would start with Arnold Schoenberg's Fundamentals of Musical Composition and Theory of Harmony by the same author. The former is more of a slow-reading reference with examples for study and replication. The latter is a dense and thought-provoking page turner.

None of my works have been recorded. The best I could do is to post a PDF of some of them if you're interested in having a look at them.

u/Experience111 · 1 pointr/piano

If you really have your basic chords and scale theory down, I would recommend a book that was recommended by my teachers : Arnold Schoenberg's Theory of Harmony. It is a very deep theory book that challenges a lot of the preconceptions that existed (and still exist) before its realease around 1910. I started reading it and it is a great book indead, though I lack some elementary knowledge to get the best out of it.

u/BeowulfShaeffer · 1 pointr/piano

It would help if we knew more about your own level of knowledge too. For instance I could recommend Schoenberg's Theory of Harmony or Levine's Jazz Piano Book but those books expect a lot out of their readers, so you may be better off with simpler books.

One book I liked a lot was Carl Humphries The Piano Handbook. It doesn't assume you know much and goes over a lot of material without a lot of depth. It might be a good starting point. It has something to say about pretty much every musical style from 1400 to today.

EDIT: I just reread your post and see you already have the piano handbook.

As a six-month player you probably need to work on physical technique more than anything. And you'll need a teacher for that. :( Can you find one to even meet once a month for 30 minutes?

u/xiipaoc · 0 pointsr/ClassicalMemes

> clearly schoenberg never took a theory class

Clearly!